I need your help, I usually fish inshore and very frequently my fish finder spots fish at 30 to 35 feet. I usually troll rapala xrap magnum rated for 10 and 15 feet of depth. But I would like to get my lures deeper to get to those fish, even my smaller lures.

So I was looking at downriggers, but that looked like even more gear to carry round, someone mentioned a planer but I got no idea what that is or how to use it. Then I found something in basspro but not sure how to use them or if they are any good (see link below)

Hmm....I've never used that type of planer, I have used "Sea Striker Planers" quite often (but never off a kayak). I think they all work in the same fashion - the plate is vertical in the water, and the forward motion of the boat drives it downward, because of the water resistance. When a fish strikes, it tips the planer so it's no longer vertical, and the planer and fish can be reeled in as normal.

The thing is, there's a LOT of force on the rod, from the water resistance, and I wonder how long you could maintain enough momentum peddling to work it properly. i.e., the moment you rest, the planer is going to unset, and pop to the surface.

You could run a sinker in front of your bait, or use a 3-way rig to drop the weight down low and keep the bait a certain distance off the bottom. I've seen this done for deep summer walleyes in freshwater.

You might want to give the LongLiner a try. I regularly fish down to 50' with one of these. When targeting trout and kokanee it is the easiest way to get to suspended fish I have used. I have no interest in adding a downrigger to my Revolution and this fits the bill perfectly. Invented by Steve Lumsden, it is a fantastic little piece of equipment. Check it out at:

I have fished with planers off of boats, and I can tell you that this is most certainly not how you want to or even are able to fish from a kayak. A hand line with downrigger as mentioned above is the way to go. It's compatible with your current tackle. All you have to figure out is where to tie the hand line off, and how to set a release clip. Piece 'O cake!!!

Hey i'm new here ( I don't even own a Yak yet ) But I thought i'd weigh in on how to get deeper as I have some deep fishing experience. Right now on my boat I use Dipsy divers and Copper line to get deep (Copper is one option in a yak) But what I would be using is Torpedo divers. They have low drag and can go as deep as 200' depending on the size of the diver and speed / line out. You can angle the fins so you can deploy 2 at the same time too. http://www.torpedodivers.com/torpedo.asp

Slide divers will easily target 30 - 35 feet and deeper.Variables to consider are speed, length of line to let out from the rod tip and from the diver to the terminal tackle.I suggest you start out at a 3 setting in order to get your setup out to the side and out from under the yak.

However I sometimes prefer the simplicity of 100 feet of 45 pound test copper trolling wire.I've even built my own copper hand line reel;two steel pie plates simply riveted back to back with a 3/4 inch SS bolt for an axle\handle... direct drive, no stretch except for the 15 feet of fluorocarbon leader. You feel every little thing the fish throws at you.It just doesn't get any simpler and more thrilling than this.

I've caught fish in 150 feet of water within ten feet of bottom while trolling at about 2 MPH.